SeatGeek hires Wavemaker as its first media agency of record

SeatGeek has named Wavemaker as its first media agency of record following a two-month internal review, part of a continued advertising push for the ticketing platform. Wavemaker will focus on Seatgeek's media and encompass strategy, planning, investment and activation, marketing intelligence and science, video and out of home. It's a significant victory for the WPP agency, which has recently won business with new economy brands such as Square, Coinbase, TikTok, and Bumble. The deadline for the 2022 Small Agency Awards is Wednesday, April 27. Submit your entry at AdAge.com/SAA2022. Steven Quach, VP of Media and Growth Marketing at SeatGeek, said in a statement that Wavemaker "presented us with bold approaches for category disruption," adding that the brand was "impressed by the agency’s approach to holistic media planning and finding strategic audiences across legacy and new brand media at scale." Seatgeek grew significantly over the past year, posting a record $82.5 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2021, up from $4.8 million for the same period the year prior, the company said this week. "What an incredible time to partner," Sharb Farjami, chief operating officer, North America, Wavemaker, said in a statement. "SeatGeek is poised to become the fastest-growing scaled company in its category. We're thrilled our provocative approaches resonated and are eager to help SeatGeek rapidly expand as a global technology ticketing leader." In June, Seatgeek named Fig as its creative agency of record and launched its first full-scale brand campaign a few months after it redesigned its logo in July. In October 2021, SeatGeek announced it's intent to go public through a merger with RedBall Acquisition Corp., valuing the combined entity at $1.35 billion. The merger with RedBall, a SPAC co-founded by Oakland A’s executive and minority owner Billy Beane, included a $100 million investment from NBA star Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Ventures, Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and other investors. The company disclosed 2021 advertising costs of $81.5 million in its regulatory filing relating to its planned merger with RedBall. That is up from $27.1 million in 2020 and $58.7 million in 2019 according to the filing. Sign up for Ad Age’s Agency newsletter. SeatGeek has also been steadily increasing its market share year-over-year since 2017. The company has jumped from a 5% to 12% share of a live entertainment market valued at $126 billion, according to Front Office Sports.

SeatGeek hires Wavemaker as its first media agency of record

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